Mia Farrow told the Special Court for Sierra Leone, "She (Campbell) said that in the night she had been awakened. Some men were knocking at her door. They were sent by Charles Taylor and they had given her a huge diamond". Last week, the British supermodel told the same tribunal that the men gave her a pouch containing two or three, "dirty-looking stones" but she said she did not know who the gift came from although she "assumed" they came from Charles Taylor. Campbell says she gave the diamonds to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

 

"Naomi Campbell joined us at the breakfast table, but before she sat down, she immediately recounted an event of that evening, " the 65-year-old actress told the court, adding, "It was sort of an unforgettable moment". Farrow and Campbell were both guests at a 1997 charity dinner, hosted by then South African President Nelson Mandela. Charles Taylor, who was then president of Liberia, was also in attendance.

 

Mia Farrow says she was warned about Mr Taylor by Graça Machel, Nelson Mandela's future wife: "She said something to the effect of no, no, you don't want to be photographed with this man".

 

The chief prosecutor at the Special Court, Brenda Hollis, hopes the testimony by Farrow and Campbell will prove that Mr Taylor received blood diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone and that he gave a number of the rough gems to the supermodel.

 

Blood diamonds played a crucial role in the brutal wars fought in West Africa in the 1990s. According to the prosecution, Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front rebels used blood diamonds to pay Charles Taylor for training and weapons.

 

Naomi Campbell may have finished testifying before the special court, but the diamonds aren’t finished with her: South African police say they may want to question the model about where they came from. Jeremy Ratcliffe, a former director of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, handed the rough diamonds to the police last Thursday and confirmed that Campbell had given him the gemstones.

 

Press
Mia Farrow's appearance at the special court did not generate the same level of media frenzy as Naomi Campbell's; hundreds of journalists were camped outside the court hoping to get a glimpse of the supermodel as she arrived to deliver her testimony last Thursday. A few dozen reporters were waiting for Mia Farrow when she arrived to testify this morning.